Set to retire from road racing in the next 6 months, Bardet has claimed 2 podium and 4 stage victories at the Tour de France in his career. His recent success at the Grand Boucle was a stunning two-up-stage victory alongside DSM-Firmenich-PostNL teammate Frank van der Broek on the first day of the 2024 race at Rimini.
However, in a long post・season interview with Eurosport, the 34・year-old said he felt, for the first time, that he had been overhauled by a new generation of mountaineers as he returned to the stage of the 2020 Tour de France Pyrenees.
Barde added that Poganyar's race performance in particular shows that the Slovenian is currently in his own class. When asked about how he saw Poganyar's runaway success in 2024, the Frenchman could say that the UAE champion was even further away from other fields.
Using a phrase from boxing to express the difference between Poganyar and the rest of the Peloton, Baldette says, "It's just not in the same weight category."
"I'm surprised, but at the same time, he's taking advantage of all the huge potential we've already seen in him, from the beginning [of the season] to the end.
Barde said he had seen signs of Poganyar's brilliance in the first 2 Tour de France, where the Slovenians won "in pure class", but now these kinds of exceptional performances have continued from 2 to 10 months.
"It's hard to explain because he's so good," Baldette added. "I don't spend much time looking for an explanation. Being a modern and part of the racing community, you feel like you're not even one of his rivals.
Barde wholeheartedly agreed with the interviewer that he had participated in several races in which Poganyar was convinced in advance that he would win.
"There were some, but they were off the top of my head: Strade Bianche, GP Montréal, and World Championships. I was completely sure that it had already been determined, except for a mechanical incident, or something along those lines.
Bardet, a professional since 2012, had never previously felt that feeling, pointing out Poganyar's team as one of the causes of "certain vulnerabilities" 1, he said."That's changed in 2024, but "even at the Tour de France, if you see the United Arab Emirates mixing it up to control the break in front of the Peloton, he [Poganyard] will win the stage afterwards," Baldette said.
"The same happened at Giro d'Italia. This season has happened at least 10 times.
Barde has witnessed Poganyar's dominance firsthand in many races this season. These included both the Giro and Toure, while Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Frenchman ranked 2nd after the Slovenians (the narrowest defeat by Pogagnal, although the gap in victory was actually quite large) and the world in which he claimed 10th place.
These relentless series of successes for the UAE leaders became difficult right after Visma-Lease A Bike's overwhelming advantage on the 2023 grand Tour, and what Bardet agreed upon was that the Peloton's other locations had a lot to do with how a very limited number of teams are taking the bulk of the victories currently offered. It was a bit of frustration.
Outside of those squads, "When you have 6 guys working for you and you end up in 6th or 7th place, you ask yourself a question [like]: I'm at Level
"This is the result of the direction of road cycling where talent and highest salaries are concentrated in a few squads," before he warns. He said, "We are at a competitive level "
Barde spoke like a "former top rider" of the sport who was looking for an excuse for his or her failure to be in the thick of further action, and pa
but for some reason had to date when he realized that the sport was ahead of him. If, for Balde, the Pyrenees stage, which ended in Larne on the 2020 tour, was where it happened. (Coincidentally or not, this stage was the first stage for Pogagnard to win the Tour de France, finishing fastest in the sprint. Balde was in the 2nd chase group, with an 11-second delay to 8th place.
"It was the first day I felt an overhaul in the mountains. I don't say it was never dropped before; it happened a lot. But on that stage, I was on a good day and I really felt there was a big difference with the best ones.
"When they asked for it, it felt like it was going really fast. I experienced the acceleration of Froome (the former multiple winner of the Tour de France), but it was not so impressive."
In general cycling and Pogagnard, and in particular in personal terms, Bardet will not return to the Tour de France again, and his retirement date from the road race is set at the end of 15 2025.
However, his victory at Rimini on this summer's tour, at the end of a 50km breakaway in the Peloton's teeth – the one he led the day's race – was the sport's top event
"It was a bit like a dream scenario, but it wasn't really a surprise," he said. Bardet told Eurosport. "The result was exceptional in itself, but it formed part of my approach, the plan I made for my first weekend.
"With the resources I had, I was very ambitious about that opening weekend because I knew it would be an ideal scenario for me, but being able to put it all into practice and having everything together for it to happen is not really under my control. I had no idea what was going on. It was a happy coincidence."
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